“It’s a hell of a journey”: Student, graduate, and trainer views on the integrative process in psychotherapy training.

Abstract

This qualitative study explored how the process of becoming an integrative psychotherapist is experienced, understood and facilitated during psychotherapy training. Semistructured individual interviews were used to capture the perspectives of students undergoing integrative training, recent graduates, and current trainers of integrative psychotherapy programs in Ireland and the United Kingdom (N = 12). Thematic analysis revealed 2 major themes, “finding meaning” and “the right ingredients.” The first theme describes how becoming an integrative psychotherapist was experienced as a complex and challenging yet rewarding journey that involved coming to an understanding about the meaning of integration and forming an identity as an integrative psychotherapist in a context of uncertainty. The second theme captures the view that this process may be smoother for students with an open-minded and reflective disposition, and that integration is facilitated by having a clear integrative focus early in student development, using integrative teaching methods, and having a dedicated integrative teaching team. Understanding this process may help trainers to anticipate and explicitly address the challenges faced by students, and provide students with a framework to understand and map their own developmental process. It is suggested that the various definitions of integrative psychotherapy may contribute to the challenges in coming to an understanding of this approach and developing an identity as an integrative psychotherapist. Thus, promoting the field of integration as an integrated whole might prove a fruitful endeavor in the future.